Affecting an estimated thirty percent of adults over age 55, knee osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent causes of lower limb disabilities. Unfortunately, the incidence of knee osteoarthritis in the United States, Europe, and other regions is expected to rise as populations age.
Safe and effective treatments of this disease are limited. For example, a number of current therapeutic modalities focus primarily on reducing pain and improving joint function by means of non-specific, symptomatic agents, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors. Undesirably, such agents are associated with high rates of adverse events. Moreover, these drugs rarely completely relieve symptoms. Many individuals with knee osteoarthritis thus ultimately require a total knee replacement.
The symptoms of knee osteoarthritis often are described as mechanical—they occur with activity. Despite the above noted shortcomings of drug therapy, attempts to ameliorate the forces in the knee with braces have proven effective in relieving symptoms. Clinically effective prior art braces, however, often are too bulky to comfortably wear for long periods, and difficult to wear underneath clothing.